Its a balance we have to strive forto protect what the composer intended, yet keep the music alive so it doesnt become a museum piece, or simply an archive. hide caption. hide caption. Ive been looking forward to working with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra because they dont play like a typical orchestra with a conductor at the head, in which case you just follow the conductors beat. September 17, 2010 The young cellist plays Bach with elegance, and takes us through the backstreets of Buenos Aires with a gripping performance of Omaramor, Osvaldo Golijov's tribute to tango singer Carlos Gardel. Im still going to always try to improve as an artist and to be a more insightful interpreter. She mentioned that her first cello was a cereal box with a chopstick for a bow! Because its hard enough, even when you love it. Since Alisa Weilerstein was just 6, the three have performed together around the globe as the Weilerstein Trio. The trio currently resides at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Her brother is the violinist and conductor Joshua Weilerstein (born in 1987). She is married to Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare. [5] Weilerstein has received a number of honors. And I played in master classes for Zara Nelsovanand for Lynn Harrell. WebAlisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. hide caption. Alisa Weilerstein always knew that she wanted to be a cellist. Allegro molto vivace 11:54 Golijov: Omaramor For Solo Cello 8:14 Alisa Weilerstein (cello) Recorded: 2012-10-14 Recording Venue: Teldex Studio, Berlin Theres the potential for a really deep kind of collaboration with them, which is kind of unique. Alisa Weilerstein - MacArthur Foundation Entertainment & Arts. Thats a constant discussion. (1988) and When Alisa Met Elliott (2012). She left the choice up to them. For aspiring classical musicians, what kind of advice can you offer other than practice, practice, practice? Do you even remember the first time you were here? Already an authority on Bachs music for unaccompanied cello, in spring 2020 Weilerstein released a best-selling recording of his solo suites on the Pentatone label, streamed them in her innovative #36DaysOfBach project, and deconstructed his beloved G-major prelude in a Vox.com video, viewed more than two million times. She has been married to Rafael Payare since 2013. She will be there, playing solo. Her repertory is wide but has been marked by a focus on contemporary music. For example, the Schumann concerto Ive played many times. This is the philosophy behind the project, fundamentally: connecting the pieces, connecting the voices of our time together, connecting the familiar and the new, connecting this music with the audience without the barrier of so much contextualization, categorization, bias, all of these things., And connecting, she added, our contemporary world with the concert format. People assume that this is the only thing you know how to do, or that your talent is a kind of idiot-savant type of thing. Alisa Weilerstein - New York Philharmonic Alisa Weilerstein on What It Means to Be a Classical Musician My parents were very conscious to give me as close to a normal childhood as possible, so I had friends, played outside, went to normal school. For details on how we use cookies, see our. Thats an important skill, unless you are someone who only plays alone always, you have to be able to communicate. I want to keep fostering relationships with composers, help expand our repertoire, and create a cornerstones of twenty-first century repertoire. WebAlisa Weilerstein is known for If I Stay (2014), P.O.V. (1988) and When Alisa Met Elliott (2012). December 22, 2012 The albums that sum up our year span genres and borders. AW: I was 13 when I first came as a student, so that was 1995, and I studied with David Finckel, and also, I played for Dorothy DeLay quite a lot. Alisa Weilerstein Cello virtuoso Alisa Weilerstein is always at the head of her class. Thats something that Im really trying to do. There was a temptation to write something really virtuosic, really out there, really avant-garde, said Reinaldo Moya, one of the more junior composers in Weilersteins group, because youre not going to have the chance to work with a soloist of that caliber every time. Weilerstein did set some rules. In general, Weilerstein's approach is deliberate and detailed, more reminiscent of Mstislav Rostropovich than of the members of her own family with whom she plays chamber music. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Theres a lot of things that classical music does uniquely well, and its important to preserve those things, Weilerstein said. When the cellist Alisa Weilerstein found herself cooped up with her family at the start of the pandemic, her first instinct, like that of so many classical musicians, was to find some way any way to communicate. Now, the youngest Weilerstein's profile as a soloist is being kicked into high gear. 6 in D major, BWV 1012, into a sub-climax that concludes CD 1. You try to treat the score as something thats living and breathing, and therefore, malleable. AT FIRST GLANCE, Fragments might appear to be another of Weilersteins explorations of Bach, a successor to her all-in-one-night performances of the six suites, her emotive recording of them on the Pentatone label and her pandemic streaming series. The work is better as a result. Alisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. I came to Aspen, I think, for 16 summers of my first 18 years of life, so I spent a lot of my formative years here, so it really feels like another home to me. Video by John Francis Shes the same manager I have now, 20 years later. Since making her professional and Carnegie Hall debuts in her early teens, she has been in high demand as a solo Alisa Weilerstein: Fragments | Apr 1, 2023 in NYC | Carnegie Hall There will be limited program notes in advance, little to guide listeners except their ears and eyes through a collagelike narrative arc assembled from musical fragments. With contemporary music, theres so much context put around it even before weve heard anything.. 1600 Saint-Urbain Street, to a secular Jewish family. As the UKs Telegraph put it, Weilerstein is truly a phenomenon.. What do you think of as being the most important creative resources for doing what you do? Weilerstein wanted for the first thing that listeners hear to be the Prelude from the first Suite. She joined the artists who found solace on social media, streaming a movement of Bachs cello suites each day, for 36 days in a row. To shed the Rorschach inclination towards finding meaning in the program before hearing the music was a really important piece of the puzzle, Pulitzer said. Phone: 650-931-2505 | Fax: 650-931-2506 An ardent proponent of contemporary music, she has also premiered and championed important new works by composers including Pascal Dusapin, Osvaldo Golijov and Matthias Pintscher. As a soloist she has performed with a number of other major orchestras on four continents. Earlier in their careers, Moya and Payare both played in the Simn Bolvar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, a country that has such an addiction to caffeine that it has a precise linguistic taxonomy for coffee and its functions. She is married to Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, with whom she has a young child. Weilersteins cello is her id. Known for her consummate artistry, emotional investment and rare interpretive depth, she was recognized with a Jamie Jung/Courtesy of the artist Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of nine, Weilerstein is a staunch advocate for the T1D community. Labels are generally very, very unhelpful. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your consent. Weilerstein and Jason Yoder ( marimba) perform Camille Saint-Sans 's "Le cygne" (The Swan) from The Carnival of the Animals at the White House Evening of Classical Music (November 2009) Problems playing these files? See media help. Alisa Weilerstein (born April 14, 1982) is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. [1] Other career milestones include a performance at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. Conversation Alisa Weilerstein on what it means to be a classical musician Music , Beginnings, Collaboration, Process From a conversation with T. Cole Rachel April 19, So each of the six programs, which Weilerstein will offer over the next few seasons, will have a dramaturgical element: Hanako Yamaguchi, the former, longtime director of music programming at Lincoln Center, is her artistic adviser, and her production team includes the director Elkhanah Pulitzer, the set and lighting designer Seth Reiser, and the costumer Carlos J. Soto. This website uses cookies to improve your experience when you browse the website. When the cellist Alisa Weilerstein found herself cooped up with her family at the start of the pandemic, her first instinct, like that of so many classical musicians, was to find some way-any way-to communicate. Pentatone's sound is a bit too close but catches the intensity and the controlled spontaneity of these readings. The work was co-commissioned with the Detroit Symphony; the Cleveland Orchestra, where Weilerstein performed it last fall; and the National Symphony, where she reprised it in May. I live with his music all the time, I love it deeply, Shaw said, adding that the second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier has been her soundtrack for the past year. Playing the cello actually takes tremendous upper body strength. Alisa Weilerstein is an American classical cellist who began performing professionally at the age of 13. There may be people, Weilerstein admits, who are put off by even a modest staging, or by her tinkering with performance traditions. I realized that what he was telling me was very valuable. FC: Was it hard playing at home for your dad - this world-famous violinist - when you were just learning how to play the cello? That's an honor and a litmus test which Barenboim has only granted one other artist: Yo-Yo Ma. Celebrity Series of Boston He had this incredible way of distancing himself when we were working together, so it never felt like I was, sort of, battling a parent. I count myself incredibly lucky in that respector maybe I was just very stupid, I dont knowthat I wasnt afraid to be in front of people. She plays the suites in the sequence 1, 3, 6, 2, 4, 5, making the virtuosic and difficult Suite No. Not only did she make her Carnegie Hall debut at age 15 and perform for President Obama in 2009, last year she was also chosen by conductor Daniel Barenboim to perform the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic. Certain aspects of it may be familiar. What did she as a violin teacher have to offer you? Brava, brava, brava! Im still going to always try to improve as an artist and to be a more insightful interpreter. But this project is intended to reimagine what a cello recital can be, to challenge some of the conventions that Weilerstein thinks might inhibit a listeners immediate response to the music, and to add layers of theatricality to the arguably staid traditions of the concert hall, in an acceptance that a musician is, after all, performing on a stage.